Car insurance reform?
Discussion
Car insurance costs in the last 2 years are the worst examples of gouging I've ever seen. Despite no claims ever, my insurance costs have trebled in the last 2 years.
I note this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-bring...
I fully expect that the above talking shop will be a frum wherein the interests of car insurers are prioritised over the interests of motorists.
It’s a fake industry, and I have nothing but contempt for everyone in it. It’s a financial product that the government forces us to buy.
No proper private enterprise should be piggy-backing on a mandatory market.
Does anyone have any suggestions to reform the car insurance cartel?
I just accept the rotten state of car insurance an ugly fact of UK life.
I note this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-bring...
I fully expect that the above talking shop will be a frum wherein the interests of car insurers are prioritised over the interests of motorists.
It’s a fake industry, and I have nothing but contempt for everyone in it. It’s a financial product that the government forces us to buy.
No proper private enterprise should be piggy-backing on a mandatory market.
Does anyone have any suggestions to reform the car insurance cartel?
I just accept the rotten state of car insurance an ugly fact of UK life.
Yes, get the FCA to investiage it properly, and the myriad incompetences, corruptions, price fixing, and utter disregard for the FCA's own tenets will become clear. Whether the FCA will be able to, or want to investigate is another matter. I suspect there is a merry-go-round of CEOs and directors who flit between the FCA, banking, and insurance industries, creating conflict of interest wherever they go.
The FCA are keen to look at products such as GAP insurance, and motor finance commissions (probably in order to be seen to be doing something), but are oddly, indeed suspiciously, reluctant to delve into matters that cause consumers a great deal of incovenience, and financial pain, and whose products are extraordinarily opaque.
The FCA are keen to look at products such as GAP insurance, and motor finance commissions (probably in order to be seen to be doing something), but are oddly, indeed suspiciously, reluctant to delve into matters that cause consumers a great deal of incovenience, and financial pain, and whose products are extraordinarily opaque.
Without knowing your age, occupation, address, car and claims history it's hard to make a judgement on your experience of the insurance industry - you might simply be a bad risk.
For me as I hit 50, insurance is cheap. I can buy cars and mirror my no-claims. So £200 on Sheds for the protection it offers is cheap, especially considering claims can be in the millions. My highest premium is £500. If the Gov didn't mandate compulsory cover, then you'd likely lose your house in a claim, or you would be hit by someone who has no cover.
For me as I hit 50, insurance is cheap. I can buy cars and mirror my no-claims. So £200 on Sheds for the protection it offers is cheap, especially considering claims can be in the millions. My highest premium is £500. If the Gov didn't mandate compulsory cover, then you'd likely lose your house in a claim, or you would be hit by someone who has no cover.
Build up a good record avoid accidents and shop around, if you do these three things vehicle insurance costs are really very reasonable.
Its not an insurers fault if you choose to live in a high car crime/accident area or buy a theif magnet or if you're accident prone making regular claims or having a new windscreen every other year which costs more than the 2 policies.
I've never paid more than £350 for a years protected insurance on a selection of hardly run of the mill vehicles, course you have to do the annual bit of negotiation but its no hardship.
Everything the govt pokes its nose into proves to be one gigantic costly balls up, this is unlikely to prove any different.
Its not an insurers fault if you choose to live in a high car crime/accident area or buy a theif magnet or if you're accident prone making regular claims or having a new windscreen every other year which costs more than the 2 policies.
I've never paid more than £350 for a years protected insurance on a selection of hardly run of the mill vehicles, course you have to do the annual bit of negotiation but its no hardship.
Everything the govt pokes its nose into proves to be one gigantic costly balls up, this is unlikely to prove any different.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
YMMV.
Also pleased with my recent windscreen replacement, and the repair of Mrs H's car after an accident.
YMMV.
Also pleased with my recent windscreen replacement, and the repair of Mrs H's car after an accident.
MF35 said:
Car insurance costs in the last 2 years are the worst examples of gouging I've ever seen. Despite no claims ever, my insurance costs have trebled in the last 2 years.
I note this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-bring...
I fully expect that the above talking shop will be a frum wherein the interests of car insurers are prioritised over the interests of motorists.
It s a fake industry, and I have nothing but contempt for everyone in it. It s a financial product that the government forces us to buy.
No proper private enterprise should be piggy-backing on a mandatory market.
Does anyone have any suggestions to reform the car insurance cartel?
I just accept the rotten state of car insurance an ugly fact of UK life.
How to say you have zero understanding of something without actually saying it. I note this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-bring...
I fully expect that the above talking shop will be a frum wherein the interests of car insurers are prioritised over the interests of motorists.
It s a fake industry, and I have nothing but contempt for everyone in it. It s a financial product that the government forces us to buy.
No proper private enterprise should be piggy-backing on a mandatory market.
Does anyone have any suggestions to reform the car insurance cartel?
I just accept the rotten state of car insurance an ugly fact of UK life.
I have made one claim in my life on car insurance. That was a simple theft aged 50. My insurance premium that year was around £300 for a brand new BMW M4 Comp Pack. They paid out the full cost around £75k (or that neighbourhood).
In my driving life I will never pay that much in premiums. Some will claim multiple times some will never claim.
The simple concept of insurance is the premiums of the many pay for the claims of the few. When claims are high, or expensive or both then the premiums of the many go up to cover it.
If you think you can do it better put a proposal together. Disrupt the market. Clean up. Become a billionaire and laugh at the rest of the companies failing while you revel in your success. Or more likely sit there on skid row wondering where it all went wrong.
MF35 said:
Car insurance costs in the last 2 years are the worst examples of gouging I've ever seen. Despite no claims ever, my insurance costs have trebled in the last 2 years.
I note this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-bring...
I fully expect that the above talking shop will be a frum wherein the interests of car insurers are prioritised over the interests of motorists.
It s a fake industry, and I have nothing but contempt for everyone in it. It s a financial product that the government forces us to buy.
No proper private enterprise should be piggy-backing on a mandatory market.
Does anyone have any suggestions to reform the car insurance cartel?
I just accept the rotten state of car insurance an ugly fact of UK life.
On the other hand I think it is absolutely fine, with relatively low premiums. But, then again, I shop around come renewal time, although I usually end up with the same provider. I also avoid lowish no-name insurers as well.I note this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-bring...
I fully expect that the above talking shop will be a frum wherein the interests of car insurers are prioritised over the interests of motorists.
It s a fake industry, and I have nothing but contempt for everyone in it. It s a financial product that the government forces us to buy.
No proper private enterprise should be piggy-backing on a mandatory market.
Does anyone have any suggestions to reform the car insurance cartel?
I just accept the rotten state of car insurance an ugly fact of UK life.
To keep premiums down the things that need addressing are:
The multitude of uninsured drivers on the road
Fake/scam claims, such as crash for cash, fake injuries etc.
Credit hire replacement cars at ridiculous daily rates.
Cost and timescales of replacement parts
Smint said:
Build up a good record avoid accidents and shop around, if you do these three things vehicle insurance costs are really very reasonable.
Solid advice here.Same applies for things like SIM only mobile bills, broadband packages etc. I'm saving over £60 a month now on Virgin after shopping around on U-Switch and taking television off the package which was on a rolling basis. My own fault for not being onto it sooner...
I am driving a 14-year-old shed as a main car and insurance has dropped year after year in the four years I have owned it, thanks to shopping around in advance and not relying on automatic renewals.
There are, of course, factors such as estimated annual mileage, postcode etc, but if people ensure they start shopping for insurance renewal quotes in advance of their policy lapsing and that they don't allow their insurer to just automatically renew for whatever amount their current insurer dictates, there should be a lot of savings to be had.
I use Money Supermarket and some quotes will be saved for however many hours or days. I keep a note of the insurer and quote reference and ensure they are sent to my e-mail address for future reference or if I want to take them up on a cheaper quote no longer available.
The closer you are to the expiry date or the more urgent the need to insure (i.e. today or within days), the more likely the quotes will be bumped up in price. There is always a tangible difference in price when seeking a quote for a policy that is to start in 30 days' time as opposed to within 30 hours' time!
Last month I ended up distracted and totally forgot to purchase the new insurance policy despite shopping around in advance.
I had obtained renewal quotes in May and strangely these had been 'lost' in the week before policy expiry, so I had to regenerate quotes based on the window left to renew.
It added over £100 to the cheapest annual premium, but fortunately I was able to refer to my e-mails, dig out previous quotes from when I was shopping around and purchase the original 'lost' cheaper policy quote.
MF35 said:
Car insurance costs in the last 2 years are the worst examples of gouging I've ever seen. Despite no claims ever, my insurance costs have trebled in the last 2 years.
I note this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-bring...
I fully expect that the above talking shop will be a frum wherein the interests of car insurers are prioritised over the interests of motorists.
It s a fake industry, and I have nothing but contempt for everyone in it. It s a financial product that the government forces us to buy.
No proper private enterprise should be piggy-backing on a mandatory market.
Does anyone have any suggestions to reform the car insurance cartel?
I just accept the rotten state of car insurance an ugly fact of UK life.
Insurance companies in business to make money shocker!!!I note this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-bring...
I fully expect that the above talking shop will be a frum wherein the interests of car insurers are prioritised over the interests of motorists.
It s a fake industry, and I have nothing but contempt for everyone in it. It s a financial product that the government forces us to buy.
No proper private enterprise should be piggy-backing on a mandatory market.
Does anyone have any suggestions to reform the car insurance cartel?
I just accept the rotten state of car insurance an ugly fact of UK life.
Seriously fella there’s already been some great advice on this thread. Read it.
Car insurance is fine how it is. For most people, it's pretty cheap and does what it says on the tin should you ever need what's in the tin, which most people don't. For some people who statistically deserve to pay a lot for insurance, it's expensive. So what. I'm one of the majority for whom insurance is cheap. It doesn't need reform, it's a non issue, and most people don't give it a second thought.
When you look at the challenges this country faces, I can believe people think reforming car insurance should even be close to going on the agenda.
When you look at the challenges this country faces, I can believe people think reforming car insurance should even be close to going on the agenda.
CaptainScarlet1967 said:
Smint said:
Build up a good record avoid accidents and shop around, if you do these three things vehicle insurance costs are really very reasonable.
Solid advice here.Same applies for things like SIM only mobile bills, broadband packages etc. I'm saving over £60 a month now on Virgin after shopping around on U-Switch and taking television off the package which was on a rolling basis. My own fault for not being onto it sooner...
I am driving a 14-year-old shed as a main car and insurance has dropped year after year in the four years I have owned it, thanks to shopping around in advance and not relying on automatic renewals.
There are, of course, factors such as estimated annual mileage, postcode etc, but if people ensure they start shopping for insurance renewal quotes in advance of their policy lapsing and that they don't allow their insurer to just automatically renew for whatever amount their current insurer dictates, there should be a lot of savings to be had.
I use Money Supermarket and some quotes will be saved for however many hours or days. I keep a note of the insurer and quote reference and ensure they are sent to my e-mail address for future reference or if I want to take them up on a cheaper quote no longer available.
The closer you are to the expiry date or the more urgent the need to insure (i.e. today or within days), the more likely the quotes will be bumped up in price. There is always a tangible difference in price when seeking a quote for a policy that is to start in 30 days' time as opposed to within 30 hours' time!
Last month I ended up distracted and totally forgot to purchase the new insurance policy despite shopping around in advance.
I had obtained renewal quotes in May and strangely these had been 'lost' in the week before policy expiry, so I had to regenerate quotes based on the window left to renew.
It added over £100 to the cheapest annual premium, but fortunately I was able to refer to my e-mails, dig out previous quotes from when I was shopping around and purchase the original 'lost' cheaper policy quote.
Lo-Fi said:
If you've taken the telly stuff off the virgin package, what is it you're actually getting from them? Broadband/mobile? If so, how much are you paying them now? Not being arsey, just curious.
Landline and broadband only now.The contract was for an initial 18 months and Virgin made it seem as though their cables were some exclusive artisanal type that weren't available off the shelf. I wanted the cables to be run and tucked away before some walls were skimmed etc and ceilings boarded, but in order for Virgin to run the cables I had to activate the package and start the direct debit. That was October/November 2022 and a £43 monthly package: TV, landline and broadband.
Fast-forward and it recently went up to £96 from £92, and whatever else beforehand.
U-Switch gave me an indication of new customer prices. I wish I had dealt with it sooner - Idiots' Tax etc. It took some perseverance with Virgin and having to repeat I didn t need the telly, but they have done me a deal similar to a new customer deal, albeit a few quid per month more, at around £31 per month.
IME I have found it easier to negotiate for phone/Internet related stuff as opposed to for car insurance. The common factor for both and for the purposes of this discussion is being on top of it to avoid getting ripped off. Often it's postponed or deemed not to be worth the faff. Sadly, as with my Virgin experience, many only spring into action once the price has noticeably spiralled beyond "oh it's only a few quid and not worth the time or inconvenience of shopping around". Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Edited by CaptainScarlet1967 on Monday 21st July 16:23
Virgin are the most customer hostile company out there. They give you a sensible price but often come close to doubling it 18 months in, counting on people not noticing at all or robbing you of at least one months rip off fees before you waste 2 hours with the idiots getting it back down again. They have relied on there being little to no competition for high speed broadband.
Having FTTP appear in my area and being able to tell Virgin to sod off forever was very satisfying. I actually pay more now per month but it never really was about the actual money, more the way they try and rip your pants down and how they waste your time.
Having FTTP appear in my area and being able to tell Virgin to sod off forever was very satisfying. I actually pay more now per month but it never really was about the actual money, more the way they try and rip your pants down and how they waste your time.
kiethton said:
I pay far too much for insurance (over £2k/yr for a motorbike and 2 cars) but can't agree.
Look at the loss ratios for car insurance, it's the least profitable and most competitive book a mass-market insurer will write.
Also you have to deal with whining, lying, scamming, cheating, something for nothing consumers all day long. It's the absolute dogsLook at the loss ratios for car insurance, it's the least profitable and most competitive book a mass-market insurer will write.
t end of the insurance market, if the government take the profit out of it with some cack handed legislation you just wouldn't bother playing in that market anymore.GeniusOfLove said:
Also you have to deal with whining, lying, scamming, cheating, something for nothing consumers all day long. It's the absolute dogst end of the insurance market, if the government take the profit out of it with some cack handed legislation you just wouldn't bother playing in that market anymore.
Thats one of the reasons i try and stay with Direct Line, they automatically put the cost up most years but a quick comparison check for not the cheapest quotes, then its time for a call.t end of the insurance market, if the government take the profit out of it with some cack handed legislation you just wouldn't bother playing in that market anymore.The retentions staff have always proved to be friendly and helpful and can usually adjust things to at least close enough we're all happy, i renew there and then on the phone so they get the commission for their trouble.
Will be doing exactly this tomorrow for the house insurance renewal with DL
GeniusOfLove said:
Virgin are the most customer hostile company out there. They give you a sensible price but often come close to doubling it 18 months in, counting on people not noticing at all or robbing you of at least one months rip off fees before you waste 2 hours with the idiots getting it back down again. They have relied on there being little to no competition for high speed broadband.
Having FTTP appear in my area and being able to tell Virgin to sod off forever was very satisfying. I actually pay more now per month but it never really was about the actual money, more the way they try and rip your pants down and how they waste your time.
Actually yes, this better describes it. The way I phrased being able to negotiate with Virgin as being easy compared with an insurer is a tad misleading. It wasn't easy. Having FTTP appear in my area and being able to tell Virgin to sod off forever was very satisfying. I actually pay more now per month but it never really was about the actual money, more the way they try and rip your pants down and how they waste your time.
It required perseverance, remaining on hold, going through security questions several times, being transferred, explaining the situation, standing my ground about how new customers get better prices, awaiting a call back, still getting a rubbish deal and having to threaten to cancel the contract...
Allow a minimum of an hour.
They still won't give a new customer rate, and as you say the monopoly is there. Not really any customer reward for loyalty.
It's the reason why so many don't bother with utility price shopping. Just far too much faff.
Meanwhile with insurance, it is easier to deal with in the sense that it expires after a year and that's that: you just buy another policy.
I have in the past tried to negotiate and advise that X insurer is offering it for this much, but they can never knock anything off so nowadays I simply don't bother as all my details are stored on my profile on the price comparison website and I know there'll be a cheaper quote I can buy at the click of a mouse.
Smint said:
Thats one of the reasons i try and stay with Direct Line, they automatically put the cost up most years but a quick comparison check for not the cheapest quotes, then its time for a call.
The retentions staff have always proved to be friendly and helpful and can usually adjust things to at least close enough we're all happy, i renew there and then on the phone so they get the commission for their trouble.
Will be doing exactly this tomorrow for the house insurance renewal with DL
Hope you hold AVIVA in the same esteem. If not, prepare to be disappointed The retentions staff have always proved to be friendly and helpful and can usually adjust things to at least close enough we're all happy, i renew there and then on the phone so they get the commission for their trouble.
Will be doing exactly this tomorrow for the house insurance renewal with DL
https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2025/...
rhamnousia5 said:
Hope you hold AVIVA in the same esteem. If not, prepare to be disappointed
https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2025/...
Yes, that could be the end of things as they are, had a very disappointing and expensive experience with Norwich Union some 40odd years ago and swore to have nothing ever to do with them again, didn't they morph into Aviva.https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2025/...
I feel UK insurance is a lot better than many countries in the world, notably the USA, while I'd obviously prefer it to be cheaper, being realistic, it's pretty reasonable for the level of cover we have.
What I'd want is to ditch the bullst. You have a deal with an accident management company you push your customers towards? That's fine, but try and ding the customer for any dispute of the costs they bill you for, and you and your parent company are getting a little holiday from having FCA authorisation.
What I'd want is to ditch the bulls
t. You have a deal with an accident management company you push your customers towards? That's fine, but try and ding the customer for any dispute of the costs they bill you for, and you and your parent company are getting a little holiday from having FCA authorisation.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff